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(No Model.)

H. G. 'WOLCOTT. SOFT RUBBER BALL. No. 593,264. Patented Nov. 9, 1897.

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UNITED STATES Aren't rrrcn.

HENRY G. WVOLGOTT, OF FISHKILL-ON-THE-IIUDSON, NE'W YORK, ASSIGNOR OFONE-HALF TO JOHN P. RIDER, OF SAME PLACE.

SOFT-RUBBER BALL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Eatent No. 593,264, dated November9, 1897.

Original application filed J ly 13,1895, Serial No. 55 5 ,902. Dividedand this application filed October 7, 1895. Renewed. September 22. 1897.Serial No- 652i639. (No model.)

To :55 whom it may concern.-

Be it knownthat I, HENRY G. IVOLGOTT, of Fishkill-omthe-I'Iudson, in thecounty of Dutchess, State of New York, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Soft- Rubber Balls, (to; and I do hereby declarethe following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of thisspecification, and to the letters of referinarked thereon.

lhis invention relates to improvements in articles, such as balls madeof soft rubber with an internal cavity or chamber or, more properly,with relatively thin walls, the objects of the invention being first toreduce the amount of stock and weight of the article to the minimumwithout reducing or diminishing the wearing qualities.

A further object is to provide an article having an integralstrengthening rib or portion along the seam uniting the sections fromwhich the article is made, said rib being on the inside and taperedgradually off to the 2 5 normal thickness of the stock.

The invention consists in certain novel details of construction to benow described, and pointed out particularly in the appended claim.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a sectional view through aball made in accordance with my present invention and by the process setforth in my contemporaneous application, Serial No. 555,902, filed July13, 1895, patented December 17,1895, No.551,7 l1,

of which this case is a division. Fig. 2 is an enlarged detail sectionalview through the butt-weld seam.

Balls and like hollow articles made of soft rubber and vulcanized aremade in sections seams-i. a, seams in which the two edges of thematerial are simply abutted and cemented or united autogeneously. 'Thislatter form of 5 5 seam, however, as heretofore made, was weak, thearticles when subjected to rough usage giving away along the seams, andso becoming useless. To overcome these several defects, in my presentinvention I design to up set or thicken the material at the edges of thesections and to form a scam which shall be a butt-edge seam of greaterthickness than the thickness of the body of the stock, as shown clearlyin Fig. 2, where the dotted line shows the normal thickness of the stockand the full lines the thickness of the seam of the present invention.Thus the advantages of a buttedge seam are secured with the strength ofa lap-weld. An additional advantage is also secured-i. e., the thickenedportion forms a uniform supporting-rib on the inside, giving greaterrigidity and quicker recovery when the ball is compressed.

In the drawings referred to the body of the ball is indicated by theletter A, and the buttweld upset or thickened-edge seam by the letter13. Both edges are equally upset or thickened, and the material isgradually brought down to the thickness of the stock or wall, making notonly a uniform seam throughout, but also a rib on the inner side of theball, having no irregularities such as would cause it to bounderratically or tend to cause undue and repeated flexure at any onepoint, and so start a break.

What I claim is-= A ball or similar article formed of soft rub ber withvan internal chamber, the sections of stock forming the article havingtheir edges abutted and upset or thickened uniformly on the inner sideforming a butt-weld upset seam, and a uniform supporting-rib orthickened portion gradually diminishing in thickness on each side of theseam whereby greater ri- 5 gidity and quicker and more uniform recoverywhen compressed are secured and the union of the sections of the stockinthe manufacture of the article is facilitated; substantially asdescribed.

HENRY G. WOLCOTT. "Witnesses:

Janus G. Marne, MARGARET l-I. KEATING.

